Victoria Beckham: My Fashion Life
- 28 April 2013
Today at the Vogue Festival in
association with Vertu, Victoria Beckham not only reaffirmed
that she's the successful fashion designer and mother we already
knew she was - she also won over the audience with her famous sharp
wit and self-effacing humour.
Picture credit: Darren Gerrish
"I'm nice! Everyone thinks I'm going to be a cow,"
she said, smiling. "I understand it actually. I think the same
when I see the pictures."
Queues started forming two hours before the designer
took to the stage with Alexandra Shulman this morning - and
she did not disappoint as she discussed her life, career and how
she established her two fashion labels. She was supported by
14-year-old son Brooklyn and her parents, Jackie and Tony, who
watched from the front row.
"There are a lot of people here, I hope I'm
going to say something good now," she said, as she gazed around at
the full auditorium.
Addressing the cynicism surrounding her move into the
fashion industry, she revealed that it was hard work that
eventually made the fashion press take notice.
"At the beginning there were a lot of raised
eyebrows, from those who could raise their eyebrows," she laughed.
"When I started, I did one-on-one presentations, I'd talk for hours
to people who didn't even speak English. I think a lot of people
probably thought, 'Shut up, stop going on about a bloody grosgrain
waistband!' But I'm really grateful to the industry."
The designer, who currently shows at New York Fashion
Week, hasn't ruled out joining the London schedule in the
future.
"I'd never say never to showing in London, but
I've got a great thing going in New York. Maybe one day," she said,
following much encouragement from Shulman. "I am
looking into [standalone] retail too - the e-commerce has been
going really well. I get bored easily so it's time for something
new. London is where I want to have my first store."
But, almost despite herself, the topic Beckham
returned to most often was the importance of her
children.
"My children are my priority and always have
been. I'm up early in the morning doing spelling tests and maths
quizzes before the school run, then up late with a baby and a
14-year-old who refuses to go to bed - Brooklyn," she said,
gesturing to her son in the audience.
"I've got great people who handle my schedule and
everything does revolve around the children. If there's a parents'
night or an Easter bonnet parade or a nativity play, whatever it
might be, then I plan everything around that."
And even while she's at work, the children are never far from her
side.
"I love having children in the office, mine are
always running around," she said. "I had one of those swingy chairs
for Harper in my office and she'd bounce one way and swing into a
roll of fabric and then bounce the other way and crash into a bag
of samples."
Now at the helm of an ever-expanding empire, the
designer revealed that a high street collaboration is not out of
the question ("Maybe one day, but right now I don't have the
time"), and that a fragrance launch is something she would consider
in the future. She also explained how she copes with doing so much
travelling ("Dark glasses, Alex"); revealed her role model ("My
Mum. Don't cry, Mum"); and advised budding entrepreneurs on how to
make it in the fashion industry ("You have to be prepared to start
at the bottom and work up"), before answering questions sent in by
Twitter users to the @BritishVogue account.
As the talk drew to a close, Beckham seemed almost
surprised that she'd held the audience's attention for so long.
"Gosh, is that it?" she exclaimed. "Thank you so much to everyone
that came, I didn't expect so many people. If you'd told me
how many, I might have got up and sung a song. Now that would have
been a worry."
- Lisa Niven and Ella Alexander
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